Jim Parker: Football clubs future home is biggest topic of conversation

Cllr. David Thomas at the engagement event

Reporter:

Jim Parker

01 Feb 2024 4:28 PM

Email:

torbayweekly@clearskypublishing.co.uk

It was one of the hottest potatoes for council leader Dave Thomas and his team.

Not council tax rises or grass verges being cut or the state of our town centres and palm trees being unceremoniously hacked down on Torquay seafront. Cllr Thomas and his merry men and women were in St Marychurch for a Torbay Council engagement event aimed at talking and listening to the ordinary man in the street. One of the biggest bones of contention centred on a subject just around the corner - Plainmoor and the home of Torquay United to be exact.

The Torbay Council-owned ground and stadium have served the Gulls well over many, many years and given thousands and thousands of people memories they will cherish forever - as well as some they may wish to forget. No disrespect to the grand old lady but she has served her time. She is not for the future and the United hierarchy are determined to find a site for a new stadium complex fit for the 21st century. They tried that a few years ago and I was there when owner Clarke Osborne presented the then new stadium plans at a Gordon Oliver Mayoral forum. There was something just not quite right. it all seemed rushed, out of the blue and just not deliverable.

It all went quiet but Mr Osborne, who had ploughed around £5million to £6million into the club since taking over, has always made his intentions clear including during my exclusive interview with him just a couple of months ago., He wants to see United back in the Football League, full time with a youth academy and in a new stadium. It has been made clear that the club is not sustainable at Plainmoor. That is a fact, not a threat.

New plans for that stadium are emerging, although not in the way it was planned. United CEO George Edwards presented the latest proposals to a secret meeting of all councillors and officers. Within hours of the meeting finishing, the plans were being leaked and were all over social media.

United felt obliged to make a statement and it said: "The club can confirm that its directors held an informal and private briefing with members and senior officers of Torbay Council on Wednesday, January 24, during which the club had the opportunity to outline its plans for a new ground, and explain how this stadium would not just benefit Torquay United AFC, but the whole of the Torbay community.

"TUAFC would like to stress that no decision regarding these plans has been asked for, or given, at this point, however the Club is hugely excited about the potential opportunities that a new stadium provides for the football club, as well as the local community that it represents." It added: "Everyone at Torquay United AFC hopes that our supporters and local residents will share in the enthusiasm and excitement for these plans, and therefore, should both the club and council choose to move forward with them, it is the intention of the club to engage with supporters, as well as work together with the local community, ahead of a full planning application being submitted."

Cllr Thomas said: "It was amazing how many people asked questions about Torquay United and their plans at the engagement event. It was one of the hottest subjects. "We were asked what our position was now. Our position all along is that we are happy to talk to the football club about their plans. However, we want to see a new stadium delivered before we release Plainmoor.

"We need to see the new stadium and ground delivered, not just spoken about, but complete." Supporters have welcomed the club statement and are encouraged by United's pledge to engage which they will have to if they are to win over the community. I haven't really seen or heard any particular backlash either. Fans are probably more concerned with United's performances on the pitch at the moment which is a bit up and down at the moment. Some councillors who you would expect not to be particularly in favour now appear to have an open mind.

The challenge may be when more detailed plans are made public by the club including a location for their new home.

Nightingale Park at the Willows in Torquay has always been one of the sites mentioned in the past, but the land may yet be used as a solar panel farm in a partnership with Torbay Hospital. That aside, it would appear the ball is very much in United's court and they are in a far better place to realise Clarke Osborne's dream than they were at that Mayoral forum......

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